American artist's show is glass act

American artist Toots Zynsky showcases 20 glass sculptures at the Liuli China Museum in Shanghai.[Photo provided to China Daily]

From candy bars to dancing skirts and blooming flowers, Toots Zynsky's artworks evoke all kinds of imagery at Shanghai's Liuli China Museum.

The American glass artist's debut exhibition in China, which opened on Jan 12, showcases 20 sculptures at the private museum in downtown Shanghai.

The exhibition runs through June 1.

If one looks back at the Studio Glass Movement of the 1960s and the artist's body of work, one finds that Zynsky's work embodies the eloquence of the campaign, says the exhibition's curator, Chang Yi.

Chang is the co-founder of the museum, together with wife Loretta Yang, a movie actress-turned-glass artist.

The museum, a private establishment opened in 2006, is dedicated to the promotion of glass art－from ancient Chinese pieces to contemporary works from all over the world.

Zynsky has developed a hybrid glass-processing technique named Filet-de-verre.

Decades have passed but she is still fascinated by the method, which begins by making very fine threads of glass in diverse colors, and then bringing them together to create vessels of varied shapes.

The seemingly casual technique needs extreme accuracy, says Yang.

A glass sculptor herself, Yang finds it challenging to use the fine threads of glass and imbue them with different colors while building varied forms.

Unlike sculptors who work with steel or glass fiber, glass artists have to process their creations from beginning to end, without help from a factory or experienced craftsmen, says Yang.

To Zynsky, however, this means opportunities to explore the "incredible versatility" of glass.

"It can be melted, blown, poured, carved when cold, cut, ground, polished, crushed and re-fused together, or constructed, fabricated and be used in architecture," says the artist from Boston, Massachusetts.